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Valmiki Ramayana 4.40.41

Vālmīkirāmāyaṇa 4.40.41

Language
Sanskrit

4.40.41

tatra gandharvapatayaḥ pañcasūryasamaprabhāḥ
śailūṣo grāmaṇīr bhikṣuḥ śubhro babhrus tathaiva ca

All trees of sandal flourish there
Of heavenly fragrance, rich and rare.
But, though they tempt your longing eyes,
Avoid to touch them, and be wise.
For Rohitas, a guardian band
Of fierce Gandharvas, round them stand,
Who five bright sovereign lords obey,
In glory like the God of Day.
Here by good deeds a home is won.
With shapes like fire, the moon, the sun.
Here they who merit heaven by worth
Dwell on the confines of the earth.
There stay; beyond it, dark and drear,
Lies the departed spirits' sphere,
And, girt with darkness, far from bliss,
Is Yama's sad metropolis.
So far, my lords, o'er land and sea
Vour destined course is plain and free.
Beyond your steps you may not set,
Where living thing ne'er journeyed yet.
With utmost care these realms survey,
And all you meet upon the way.
And, when the lady's course is traced,
Back to your king, O Vánars, haste.
And he who tells me he has seen.
After long search, the Maithil queen,
Shall gain a noble guerdon: he
In power and bliss shall equal me.
Dear as my very life, above
His fellows in his master's love;
I call him, yea though stained with crime.
My kinsman from that happy time.'

Ralph T. H. Griffith 1870, The Rámáyan of Válmíki, translated into English verse

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